


The Case for Patater

by garden of succulents (staranise)



Series: Lis's Check Please! Meta [2]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: M/M, Meta, Ship Manifesto, parsepositive
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-11
Updated: 2016-11-11
Packaged: 2018-10-31 10:54:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10897869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/staranise/pseuds/garden%20of%20succulents
Summary: A ship manifesto: Of all the many, many, many people I've tried shipping Kent Parson with, I think there are good reasons why Alexei Mashkovfits.





	The Case for Patater

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted to Tumblr [here](http://des-zimbits.tumblr.com/post/153040640421/the-case-for-patater); crossposted to the AO3 for posterity and ease of access.

[I SAID I’D DO IT AND BY GOD I’M DOING IT](http://des-zimbits.tumblr.com/post/152703102766/my-random-fandoms-des-zimbits-other-fandoms). Which is to say, I actually think that beyond being a crackship, there are a lot of _really good_  reasons Patater isn’t a rarepair anymore. I mean, those of us who love Parse and want him to find love with someone _other_  than Jack have tried shipping him with [everyone under the sun](http://loccorocco.tumblr.com/post/152678286677/myrealotpdeepdowninsidejpeg-thank-you-to), from [Ransom](http://violacakes.tumblr.com/post/143931965248/chowder-official-kittypurrson) to [Snowy](http://des-zimbits.tumblr.com/tagged/snowpea) to [Fry Guy](http://des-zimbits.tumblr.com/post/150809262011/dark-lis-show-me-the-forbidden-fry-guybitty). I myself see him riding into the sunset with a pair of OCs. But of all those different pairings, Patater is the one that’s really _stuck,_  and it’s not _just_  because of the pun. (I mean c’mon, “Snent Snarson” is at least as hilarious.)

I GUESS THIS IS LIKE A SHIP MANIFESTO OR SOMETHING

One salient thing about Kent is his **need for connection** and **extreme sensitivity to rejection**. We see it in [Parse III](http://omgcheckplease.tumblr.com/post/111603787382)–where, reminder, he goes to an ex who does _not_  seem to have missed him, and offers him a multimillion dollar contract to come and ~~get back together~~ ~~be his friend again~~ play on his team, because “I missed you.” And a lot of people have noted that what makes Kent fly off the handle is when Jack rebuffs him–he’s fine, he’s fine, rejection happens, BOOM, he’s the nastiest motherfucker we’ve ever seen.

And part of why he and Jack aren’t a good fit is that Jack is _really_  good at thoughtlessly making people think he hates them, cf. Bitty and Year 1; and simultaneously, [is really vulnerable](http://omgcheckplease.tumblr.com/post/111612563717) to the kind of nastiness Parse dishes out.

And then, for extra context, is [the headcanon a lot of us have that Kent has Borderline Personality Disorder](http://des-zimbits.tumblr.com/post/146678121831/okay-now-its-time-for-why-i-think-kent-parson-has).

It’s my opinion that when you’re shipping Kent, you can kind of go one of two ways: the Bittyparse route–pairing him with someone so exquisitely emotionally sensitive that they’re going to be _aware_  when there’s a breach–or the Patater route, which is pairing him up with someone _rock solid_ when it comes to the areas Parse is most sensitive on.

As a reminder, here’s Alexei with the Falconers:

He’s making fun of the “old guys”, chirping Thirdy about his poems–someone _not even in the room_  appears to be telling him to shut up. But at the same time, it looks like Thirdy is smirking about the whole situation, and Tater is undaunted–he’s vibrantly bouncing around the building, reaching out to people and smiling when they swear at him.

“He also uses these arms to punch forwards in the face if they’re messing with Snowy. He’s friendly.” -[Ngozi](http://omgcheckplease.tumblr.com/post/143065190282)

As in, the person who chirps him the _hardest_  is the one he’ll go to the most extremes for.

And he’s not just like this to people he’s ride-or-die friends with. He does it _all the time._

We absolutely know that Jack isn’t just pretending to be coy–he’s not an outgoing guy at the best of times, and during this stage in his life, he’s avoiding and hiding things from his _best friend,_  much less his new coworker. He responds to Tater with alarm and evasiveness. But _even still_ , Tater is friendly and playful; he’s emotionally attuned and tells Jack to chill, but doesn’t really seem to _mind._

(That combination of attunement and distance–being able to take the other person’s feelings seriously and let them affect the relationship, while still retaining the right to interpret them differently–is, by the way, one of the traits they explicitly teach to therapists who specialize in Borderline Personality Disorder; “irreverent communication” is an actual studied _technique._ )

So what people see in Alexei as Kent’s partner is someone who is warm and reaches out to other people even if he knows it’s going to be rough–just like speaking a language he doesn’t know completely, he tries to communicate even when it’s not going to be perfect. He’s friendly and protective as hell, but not worshipful or subservient. He’ll take your shit, but also call you on it.

Kent, meanwhile–Mr. “We Haven’t Been Close For Five Years, But Would You Like Your Heart’s Desire?”–shares Alexei’s traits of loyalty and [team spirit](http://omgcheckplease.tumblr.com/post/114978549072). He demonstrates a capability for self-sacrifice that is quite frankly worrying and unhealthy ( _move on, Kenny_ ) but at the same time I think is kind of admirable. Imagine what he’d be like with someone who _actually loved him back_. He comes across as a believer in Big Romantic Gestures who needs a more outgoing partner to facilitate communication during the rough spots. Someone who won’t be as easily hurt when he lashes out, who even has the ability to stand up to him when he’s misbehaving. ([Hmmm…](http://omgcheckplease.tumblr.com/post/150791729972))

There are a lot of fellow snarky assholes in this comic you could ship Kent with, and a lot of fellow raging divas, but fewer people who could plausibly make up a healthy emotional dynamic with him. For example, you _could_ pair him with Ransom, but Ransom has a demonstrated tendency to focus a lot on his own issues and be oblivious to the jealousy or feelings of neglect this causes in his personal relationships (cf. Holster and Ransom’s Mashkov crush). That doesn’t seem like a good recipe here. (I mean, I ship Parse/Tater/Holster/Ransom, but that’s a different thing.)

What we’re really looking for is people who have the proven capacity for surviving and repairing difficult relationships. In this comic, that’s a rare trait that a lot of characters struggle for. The people who seem best at it are Bitty and Tater, which in my opinion explains why Patater and Bittyparse are so popular, despite the relative lack of onscreen interaction between any of them.

So… the longer you look at them from this perspective, the more Patater seem like a good match.


End file.
